Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, and Ciaran Hinds take us inside the new Ghost Rider. Batman quotes existential philosophy in The Dark Knight Rises. Plus more on Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time, Chuck, Being Human, and The Vampire Diaries.

Nothing but spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

The Dark Knight Rises

In randomly awesome news, the French newspaper Libération is reporting that Batman will, at some point in his final film, read aloud an excerpt from philosopher Martin Heidegger's 1929 lecture "What Is Metaphysics?" Admittedly, there's no source given for this particular rumor, so I guess we really should go ahead and take this with a grain of salt. Of course, as bizarre rumors go, it's a lovely change from the umpteenth claim that Batman will get his back broken and ask a resurrected Ra's al Ghul to train Joseph Gordon-Levitt to be Robin or whatever. And if you're thinking that making up a story that Batman will quote Martin Heidegger is a singularly bizarre thing for Libération to do, just keep in mind we are talking about a newspaper that was founded by Jean-Paul Sartre. If anyone is going to make up such a rumor, it's them. Anyway, for some interesting speculation on which Heidegger quote Batman might unleash, check out the link. [Slate]

Here's a radio interview with costar Matthew Modine He plays a mysterious character called Nixon in the film, and while it's clear he's some sort of law enforcement official, it's still not certain whether he's a hero, villain, or somewhere in between. [Comic Book Resources]

Man of Steel

One of Bradley Cooper's representatives has reportedly denied the story that Cooper will appear as Lex Luthor in Man of Steel, which seemed like a pretty much completely absurd story to begin with. [@orzeck]

Captain America 2

I don't think there was too much question of this, but Hayley Atwell has confirmed that she will not be back as 1940s super-spy Peggy Carter in The Avengers. However, she does say that she is up for returning to the Captain America sequel, whether in a flashback or otherwise:

"I haven't heard anything; I haven't been approached. Of course if they were to bring me back or ask if I was interested, I'd definitely love to go back and revisit that role and develop her. That would be wonderful."

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Nicolas Cage makes it completely clear that the new Ghost Rider isn't really a sequel to the first one - even though he's actually reasonably proud of the first film — and explains how Spirit of Vengeance represents something new:

It's a completely different experience. For me, John Blaze, his head is already ignited so when you meet him, he's in a much different place in this movie than in the other movie. It's almost a completely different character in many ways, a much edgier, almost cynical interpretation than the original "Ghost Rider" movie. In that movie, John was trying to keep everything at bay, so he was trying to almost pacify himself with these kind of absurd habits that he was forming to keep things from erupting. In this one, he's already been living in isolation in Romania. When you meet him, he's a much different kind of persona... I don't want to compare too much between the two movies, but I will say that this movie is going to have some genuinely scary and wild moments that are going to make you wonder what you just saw. Moments that are for lack of a better word: "freaky," where you're going to be like, "Did I just see that happen?" Hopefully it will mess with your mind, which is what I'm excited about with this movie.

He also explains that he wants Ghost Rider to be completely unrelatable to audiences, which I think is the first time I've ever heard any actor say that (and also why I love Nicolas Cage):

It's more about the interplay between Ghost Rider and John Blaze and how the two of them sort of inform each other and that's quite a bit different, trying to go into areas that are more enigmatic or abstract. When you're playing a character like Ghost Rider, and I don't want to label it but I want to give the impression of, "What was he thinking?" or "What were we thinking?" because I don't want him to be anything you can relate to. I want him to be a completely alien entity. Anything I say it will take away from that.

There's a ton more Nicolas Cage awesomeness at the link, and I give it my utmost recommendation. He also reveals that his dream role is to play Captain Nemo in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, just to give you some idea of what to expect. [ComingSoon.net]

Idris Elba also discusses his character, an alcoholic, vaguely French monk named Moreau:

Yeah, Moreau is supposed to be a very religious man. A monk, in fact. But he's got his vices. He's traveled the world. I'm not sure if his faith is as strong as it should be, but in any case he's a righteous man. His journey in this film is to seek out Danny, and to protect Danny for the day of prophecy. And basically he goes about that by any means necessary. He meets up with Johnny Blaze and Johnny Blaze thinks, "Who is this guy? This crazy guy?" ‘Cuz you know I like a drink and I'm on the bikes and I'm prepared to go for it. It's actually one of my favorite characters to play; I get to be a little bit more comical than usual and that's fun.

And Ciaran Hinds discusses his character Roarke, who is in fact the Devil. When asked to rate the evilness of his Satan on a scale of 1 to 10, Hinds explained:

I think he's about three and a half. (laughter) He's not a very good Devil, ‘cause if he were, everybody would be in tatters, but at the same time, you only actually see him use his powers twice. Most of the time it's a race against time for him. He's a devil on his way out. That's what it is. His body is giving up and that's why he's trying to retain a sense of ease and control and having everything happen. Meanwhile, his face is starting to fall off. It's sort of the human weakness that he's placed himself into the vessel of a human being and it's given up on him, which also pisses him off. For him, with the whole shell disintegrating, the idea is that he has to find a new receptacle in which he can regenerate and push him onto further adventures. That's the journey, so for him, he wants to remain calm in the situation, but bit by bit, he comes to the moment where there's a prophecy and it's a race against time.

Again, there's plenty more at the link, and you can also check out a set report here. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Paranormal Activity 4

Game of Thrones

Here's a new behind-the-scenes video detailing the making of Renly's armor.

The first episode of the second season will feature what's being termed "a doozy of a surprise." Whether it will be at all surprising to people who have read the books is another question entirely, but I'm going to go ahead and guess the answer is probably "no." [TV Line]

True Blood

The show is reportedly casting the deceased Debbie Pelt's parents Barbara and Gordon, who are apparently two "kindly" people who come to Bon Temps looking for their missing daughter. Also, Gordon will reportedly not take kindly to what Alcide has to say about his daughter, kindliness be damned. [TV Line]

Chuck

Here are two sneak peeks at tonight's episode, "Chuck vs. the Kept Man." Check out the link for some additional analysis of the clips. [BuddyTV]

NBC has released brief descriptions for the two-hour finale, which is being split into two separate but presumably linked episodes. Here's the synopsis for the first hour and twelfth episode overall, "Chuck vs. Sarah":

SARAH MUST KEEP A SECRET FROM CHUCK IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH A MISSION — ANGUS MACFADYEN GUEST STARS AS 'NICHOLAS QUINN' — After a harrowing mission, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) returns to Chuck (Zachary Levi) with a huge secret. Meanwhile, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) are presented with a new opportunity that could change their lives. Adam Baldwin and Joshua Gomez also star.

And here's the description for the series finale, "Chuck vs. the Goodbye":

CHUCK'S FINAL MISSION BRINGS HIM BACK TO HIS ROOTS AS HE FIGHTS TO SAVE HIS FUTURE - ANGUS MACFADYEN AND LINDA HAMILTON GUEST STAR — Chuck (Zachary Levi) enlists his family, friend and some unexpected allies as he races to stop Nicholas Quinn (guest star Angus Macfadyen, "Braveheart") from destroying everything Chuck has built over the past five years. Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Adam Baldwin, Sarah Lancaster, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.

Once Upon a Time

Here's one last sneak peek at this Sunday's midseason premiere, "Desperate Souls."

Lana Parilla, who plays the Evil Queen and Regina on the show, discusses how her real world character is dealing with Sheriff Graham's death:

"I think that she's quite heartbroken over it, no pun intended. I really do. I think there was a genuine love and care for him and making that choice to crush his heart and to kill him was not an easy one for her. There is a scene that takes place between Regina and Emma where you do see her love and care for him and that it was hard for her. But at this point, no one knows that she had anything to do with that."

She also gets into the power dynamics of the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin, specifically whether they are allies or enemies:

"That's a good question. I think we're both. There's still more to be told, when it comes to that relationship. I think it's still being developed. But there is a kinship between these two. It's a love-hate. There's a camaraderie and then they're rivals. I always question who's more powerful. I think they kind of take turns. They one-up one another, I think it's just fun for them. At least that's how Robert and I play it. We have a blast."

Elsewhere, Parilla talks about the real world side of the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin relationship, which rears its head in the new election for sheriff:

"Regina and Mr. Gold take opposite sides. It's pretty much dirty politics. Emma's running for Sheriff now that Graham has passed on, and that becomes very threatening… Mr. Gold ends up backing Emma up in this...We learn that there's dirty games going on here, and there's a scene with Mr. Gold and Regina, where you can see it's game time."

She also explains that future episodes will reveal a lot about the Evil Queen's past and how she became, well, evil:

"There's a couple of episodes coming up where you'll see a more vulnerable side to her and there's one that hasn't even been scripted yet, but there's word that you'll see more of her backstory – how she became evil and why. I kind of knew it from the beginning. It's kind of interesting. I tapped into it when I was doing my own work on the Queen, and then I shared it with [creators] Adam [Horowitz] and Eddie [Kitsis] and they were like, ‘How did you know that?' And I said, ‘What are you talking about?' and they said, ‘That's exactly what we were thinking, we're going down that road.' I'm like ‘Oh my God! We're in sync. This is awesome!' It's just a matter of time for that story to be told… You'll definitely, by the end of the season, learn more about her backstory and see a more [softer] side, that, I think will – the audience is just really going to understand why she hates Snow and why she's so heartbroken."

Grimm

Upcoming episodes will reveal a lot more about Nick's family, including both his parents and more about Aunt Marie's past. It's currently unclear whether any new Grimms will be introduced in the near future. [TV Line]

Supernatural

Here's a promo and sneak peek for tonight's episode, "Adventures in Babysitting."

Being Human (US)

Here's a first look at Dollhouse costar Dichen Lachman as vampire royal Suren, who has a long, complex past with Sam Witwer's Aidan. Executive producer Jeremy Carver explains:

"We're always looking to expand to deepen their respective monster worlds, which we've done in spades this year. She's been away for a very long time and her reappearance on the scene, for Aidan — a guy who is always trying desperately to divorce himself from vampires and vampire-ism — she's the worst temptation to come down the pike. Part of it is the romantic past that they share."

The Vampire Diaries

Kat Graham, who plays Bonnie on the show, discusses Persia White's guest appearance next week as her character's estranged mother:

"There's going to be some unanswered questions that Bonnie's gonna have: Why did you leave me, or why did you disappear? What made you disappear? Where did you go? Why were you not in my life? A lot of those questions will get answered and you will find out where her mom's heart is and why she has to come back into Bonnie's life. And that whole thing will surprise you, too, because it's not what people think."

Executive producer Julie Plec adds:

"There's gonna be a lot of really uncomfortable but ultimately rich mother-daughter stuff. With our witches, we're always telling the story of how being a witch comes with its own set of life complications. You're always getting yourself caught in the middle of the other supernaturals' business. Bonnie's mom Abby is a walking example of that."

Elsewhere, Plec talks a bit more about the big reunion between mother and daughter:

[It's not] all Hallmark cards and cookies. There's a lot of tension there. There's [also a] surprising explanation about why [her] mother felt like she needed to walk away and never come back to Mystic Falls. [Bonnie's story will] play an interesting role in solving a present-day mythology puzzle."